Electric Ninja

Last night we managed to drop the motor at about 3am. Fortunately nobody got their toes smashed and it all came out in one piece with the downtubes! We found someone down in Tacoma to sell the motor to on craigslist. He's planning on putting it in a small dune buggy. Recycling at its best!

Motor dropped out with the downtubes still attached:

I've been working with Dave Kois at a conversion shop in Lacey as a summer intern this last month. The employees are all really friendly people, and they have been giving me advice on how to get the project rolling. Dave Kois has been extremely helpful getting parts at shop cost. Thanks Dave!

Just last weekend Alex and me went to the Wayland invitational and saw a few Teslas, the Killacycle and the White Zombie.

Me with the Killacycle and the Killacycle's creator Bill Dubé in the background (Notice the Manzanita Micro charger):

I want to appologize for not updating the site for so long. I know we have a lot of fans out there. Oh wait, I've never advertised the blog or website. Here's a video of Alex riding the bike to make up for it.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1DyvZ6-0ixA&feature=player_embedded

After a few hours of frustration trying to figure out what the vibrations were coming from, we got  the motorcycle running smoothly. My uncle Rocky helped me out over the phone. He told us to use a screwdriver as a stethescope by putting the handle on my ear while pressing the metal tip on the bike frame as the engine runs. The homemade stethoscope worked like a charm and we found that the vibrations were coming from one of the down tubes. At one end of the down tube, two bolts held the tube in place. One of them was missing and the other was too long. When the end of the down tube was held in place, the vibrations stopped. Alex and I were both surprised because the sound seems to emanate from the front of the bike, but the loose part was towards the rear.

Update: We're not sure if we want to use an AC motor anymore. A large DC outperforms AC and  still costs less.

We got a little time to work on it over the weekend so we cleaned and flushed the fuel pump and new gas tank and connected all the hoses back up and gave her a shot. After a few attempts the motor roared to life. There is likely a loose piece somewhere making that vibrating noise that comes and goes when you lean the bike side to side and the throttle cables are probably crushed somewhere making smooth revving difficult, but we are happy that the bike runs.

We ordered a new wiring harness and experimented  a bit over spring break. After switching out the fuse box and starter relay, we were finally able to get the starter to work. Next week we'll put gas in the tank and hope the bike starts. Here is a diagram of parts that were taken from the new wiring harness and fit into the old one.

Original wiring harness battery, fuse box and starter relay: